China Tower accelerated construction of 5G base stations in the first half of 2022, taking the total number of next-generation sites to 1.5 million after deploying 574,000 in the 12 months to end-June.

In a statement, China Tower explained with strong demand for 5G base stations it aims to support the stable growth of the country’s telecoms business through continued resource sharing and improved coordination with customers.

Net profit grew 22.2 per cent year-on-year to CNY4.2 billion ($621 million), with operating revenue rising 6.6 per cent to CNY45.5 billion.

Its energy business registered the fastest growth, increasing 61.3 per cent to CNY1.4 billion; smart tower sales rose 39.4 per cent to CNY2.6 billion, of which site monitoring accounted for 61.3 per cent.

Tower business revenue edged up 2.3 per cent to CNY39.6 billion, while indoor distributed antenna system (DAS) sales increased 32 per cent to CNY2.8 billion.

Its DAS covered a cumulative area of 6 billion square metres in buildings, up 35.4 per cent.

The company deployed 14,000 towers to close H1 with 2 million sites under management. Total tenants rose by 71,000 to 3.3 million, with the average number per tower climbing from 1.62 to 1.72.